The Indy Influence

Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said he would like fool Colts quarterback Peyton Manning a few times. That’s hard to do with Manning’s ability to make adjustments at the last second. Safety Dashon Goldson said that while he respects other offenses and doesn’t want to put down other teams, the 49ers will never face a harder challenge than they will Sunday. Goldson said moving coverages late against the chess-playing Manning will be essential to the 49ers defensive success.

Speaking of defense, Manusky revealed a little of how the team functions on Sundays. He said he makes the call and then secondary coach Vance Joseph gets the call to defense, which in this case, will be Goldson.

Manusky also said the Colts have their offense so knocked they don’t even use headsets much any more.

It’s surprising the Colts offense, with its prevalence of three-receiver looks hasn’t been more widely emulated. The Colts offense is not only relatively unique, it can also find players easily, because some many college teams are using spread offenses. Indy’s young receivers plug into their system with ease. In looking forward, the 49ers should take a close look at what Indy is doing, it’s something Bill Walsh would have looked at very seriously. Walsh, before he died, said he was interested in what Urban Meyer was doing.

It would be fitting if the 49ers started to move in that direction on Sunday. It’s now possible with Smith and Michael Crabtree, that the team’s most potent threats going forward are spread players. Raye said his offense might go more with three-receiver sets and might pass more with Vernon Davis and Crabtree. It remains to be seen what will happen on Sunday, but this could be the beginning of a fundamental change.